For gun control, now what? A look at the issue WASHINGTON (AP) — The impassioned push for new gun laws, born from the slaughter of schoolchildren, has collided with the marble-hard realities of Congress. Just persuading the Senate to debate tougher laws was considered a high hurdle for gun control advocates. They did it with the aid of Newtown, Conn., families, who brought photos and stories of the slain to the Capitol. A series of Senate votes Wednesday marked the biggest moment in nearly...

US unemployment aid applications rise to 352K WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits increased just 4,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 352,000. The slight gain kept applications at a level consistent with solid hiring and suggests March’s sluggish hiring may be temporary. The Labor Department report released Thursday also noted that the four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose only 2,750 to 361,250. Because the four-week average changes less ...

IMF chief says global pro-growth policies needed WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the International Monetary Fund says the United States, Europe, Japan and China all need to make adjustments to their current economic policies in order to boost a still-struggling global economy. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde says the United States and many countries in Europe need to focus more on growth and less on trimming budget balances this year. She said there was a critical need for policies foc...

Obama, victims’ families overcome by gun owners WASHINGTON (AP) — Four months ago, President Barack Obama promised a grieving nation he would do everything in his power to change gun laws after 26 students and staff were shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Turns out his power and the impassioned pleas of devastated families were no match for the force of gun rights advocates in Congress and across the nation. The National Rifle Association and its energized supporters overcame na...

Man charged in letters case described as troubled OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi man charged with sending ricin-laced letters to the president and other officials was described Thursday as a good father, a quiet neighbor and an entertainer who impersonated Elvis at parties. Other accounts show a man who spiraled into emotional turmoil trying to get attention for his claims of uncovering a conspiracy to sell body parts on the black market. Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, wrote numerous Web posts ov...

Air search finds no trace of missing Okla. man GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — A short break in windy weather on Thursday allowed a rancher with a helicopter to search a rugged mountainside in southeastern Oregon for a young Oklahoma man who set out to test himself against the wilderness. However, rancher Patty Jenkins saw no trace of Dustin Self, who was last heard from a month ago after being inspired by the movie “Into The Wild.” Self’s lime green tent was not visible, either. Self’s pickup tr...

For Washington government bean-counter, a pot education SEATTLE (AP) — Mike Steenhout knows spreadsheets, statistics and bean-counting. He has worked as a budget assistant to the governor, managed local operations for the U.S. Census Bureau and analyzed juvenile crime databases. Now, the married, minivan-driving father of a small child is a weed guy — one of the dozens of Washington state workers involved in the creation and regulation of the nation’s first legal marijuana industry. So he spends hi...

Kerry disappointed by recent talks with Iran WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry called for patience despite widespread frustration with the recent failure of negotiations between six world powers and Iran over its disputed nuclear program and growing fears of Tehran developing a weapon of mass destruction. Testifying Thursday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry said he was disappointed by the inconclusive talks in Kazakhstan earlier this month, but insisted ...

PA abortion clinic worker: I saw 10 babies breathe PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A whistle-blowing worker testified Thursday that she saw more than 14 babies born alive at a Philadelphia abortion clinic, capping a month of prosecution evidence in her former boss’s capital murder trial. Prosecutors chose Kareema Cross as their final witness before resting their case against Dr. Kermit Gosnell. Cross said she saw more than 10 babies breathe, with their chests moving up and down. “I thought they were breat...

House passes pro-business cybersecurity bill WASHINGTON (AP) — Pro-business legislation aimed at helping companies fend off sophisticated foreign hackers sailed through the House on Thursday despite a White House veto threat and an outcry from privacy advocates and civil liberties groups that say it leaves Americans vulnerable to spying by the military. The House vote, 288-127, puts the spotlight on the Senate, which hasn’t taken up the issue and is consumed with other high-profile issue...

Scientists: Superstorm Sandy jolted United States SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Superstorm Sandy didn’t just rattle the East Coast, it also jiggled the ground across the country ever so slightly, scientists reported Thursday. Earthquake sensors located as far away as the Pacific Northwest detected the storm’s energy as it surged toward the New York metropolitan region last year. The network typically records the sudden release of energy in the Earth’s crust, but it can pick up shaking triggered by oc...

FBI issues photos of 2 suspects in Boston bombing BOSTON (AP) — Plucking a couple of blurry faces in baseball caps out of a swarming crowd, the FBI zeroed in on two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing and shared surveillance-camera images of them with the world Thursday in hopes the public will help hunt them down. The photos and video depict one young man in a dark cap and another in a white cap worn backward, both carrying backpacks and one walking behind the other on the sidewalk near ...

Crews seek survivors, bodies after Texas blast WEST, Texas (AP) — Rescuers searched the smoking remnants of a Texas farm town Thursday for survivors of a thunderous fertilizer plant explosion, gingerly checking smashed houses and apartments for anyone still trapped in debris while the community awaited word on the number of dead. Initial reports put the fatalities as high as 15, but later in the day, authorities backed away from any estimate and refused to elaborate. More than 160 people w...

Texas fertilizer plant blast injures dozens WEST, Texas (AP) — A massive explosion at a fertilizer plant near Waco on Wednesday night injured dozens of people and sent flames shooting into the night sky, leaving the factory a smoldering ruin following a blast that damaged buildings for blocks in every direction. The explosion at West Fertilizer in West, a community about 20 miles north of Waco, happened shortly before 8 p.m. and could be heard as far away as Waxahachie, 45 miles to the ...

Wife of ex-judge confesses in Texas DA slayingsKAUFMAN, Texas (AP) — Authorities say the wife of a former judge has confessed to being involved in the shooting deaths of a North Texas district attorney, his wife and an assistant prosecutor. Kim Lene Williams was arrested early Wednesday. Kaufman County sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Justin Lewis says Williams is being charged in all three deaths. Lewis says she is being held on $10 million bond. According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Williams ...

Storm closes Wyo. roads, scratches baseball game DENVER (AP) — Skiers rejoiced and stores pulled snowblowers out of storage as a persistent spring storm delivered another round of wet snow to parts of Wyoming, Colorado and the Dakotas on Wednesday. Slick conditions and reduced visibility closed big stretches of two interstates in Wyoming and Colorado. The storm delayed flights out of Denver and postponed another Colorado Rockies-New York Mets game. Three feet of snow has fallen in Colorado’s...

Britain’s Iron Lady laid to rest with full pomp LONDON (AP) — Margaret Thatcher was laid to rest Wednesday with prayers and ceremony, plus cheers and occasional jeers, as Britain paused to remember a leader who transformed the country — for the better according to many, but in some eyes for the worse. Soaring hymns, Biblical verse and fond remembrances echoed under the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral, as 2,300 relatives, friends, colleagues and dignitaries attended a ceremonial funeral for Bri...

Pa. abortion trial: Assistant gave anesthesia PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A woman trained only as a medical assistant told jurors Wednesday that she gave anesthesia, set dosing amounts and performed ultrasounds when she worked at a now-shuttered abortion clinic whose owner is charged with killing a patient and seven babies. Latosha Lewis testified as prosecutors wrap up their five-week case against Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72. A string of former employees have testified that they went to work at the c...

Trespassing accusation leaves Sanford on his own MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (AP) — Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford’s political comeback already hinged on persuading conservative voters in the state’s Lowcountry to forgive him for past infidelity and political mistakes. Now he’ll have to do it with his ex-wife accusing him of repeatedly trespassing in her home. That revelation prompted the National Republican Congressional Committee to pull its support from the campaign Wednesday, a day aft...